


so long, lonesome (i've found some kind of home)

by WishingTree



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/F, Gen, bonding i don't know, the others make appearances of course
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-14 03:44:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14127342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishingTree/pseuds/WishingTree
Summary: Zari is in the middle of the very important task of deciding which flavor of fried ice cream to have when an explosion rocks the ship. It’s a fairly small explosion, no more than a 4 on the ‘oh god, oh god, we’re all gonna die’ scale, so instead of alarm, the first thing Zari feels is annoyance that she can’t have her dessert. Typical.---Zari doesn’t know exactly how it happened, because geez, you’d think she would have noticed something like this, but apparently not. Slowly but surely, the Waverider, along with all the people on it, have become her home.





	so long, lonesome (i've found some kind of home)

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so Amaya’s my favourite, but Zari just speaks to me
> 
> I'm sorry about the direction of this, it got away from me - This was entirely written around the part where Zari jumps through the portal, bc for some reason that stuck and amused me to no end

Zari is in the middle of the very important task of deciding which flavor of fried ice cream to have when an explosion rocks the ship. It’s a fairly small explosion, no more than a 4 on the ‘oh god, oh god, we’re all gonna die’ scale, so instead of alarm, the first thing Zari feels is annoyance that she can’t have her dessert. Typical.

With a sigh, she waves her hand to reset the fabricator and heads out in search of whatever’s gone wrong now. Gideon directs her to the lab, and she hurries through the halls, running into Amaya on the way. 

When they get there, Sara is glaring at Nate and Ray, both standing in front of her looking appropriately cowed. They’re surrounded by shattered glass and debris, a giant mess all over the floor, and Zari wonders how they simultaneously managed to trash both the lab table and the storage shelf. Mick is sitting on the other side of the room, and Wally zips in before the door closes behind them. Ava is also there, for some reason, and Zari figures that somebody should just officially declare her as part of the team at this point. 

“Now, what do you have to say for yourselves?” Sara says sternly, eyeing them both with her captain glare, and Nate and Ray last exactly half a second before they start talking over each other.

“Well this is so much fun,” Mick grunts from where he’s sitting, his feet up on the table. “I’ll bet you my beer that these two idiots were messing around where they shouldn’t have been.” 

“I can clean it up,” Wally volunteers, but even as Sara opens her mouth to protest there’s the telltale flash of lightning and burst of wind, and then the room is spick and span, if a little emptier than before.

“Nope!” Sara exclaims, crossing her arms, “Wally, bring it back, they clean up their own mess.” 

Wally gives her hesitant look, drawing his eyebrows together. “You… want me to put it back? The mess? With all the broken stuff?” 

Sara nods firmly, not taking her eyes off Nate and Ray, and they make the wise decision to stay quiet.

“O–kay,” Wally says unsurely before shrugging and zipping around the room again, restoring the disarray. Zari laughs as they look on in dismay, glad none of this is her problem.

“You know, you guys have the weirdest little family thing going on,” Ava comments from Sara’s side, and Zari blinks, because her voice sounds almost wistful.

“Maybe,” Sara laughs as she loops her arm around Ava’s waist, pulling her around and guiding her back towards the door. “But together it’s like they’re just a bunch of _pain in the ass kids_.” She turns her head to direct the last part at them, and Zari only smiles innocently. She doesn’t know what the others are doing behind her back, but she can guess it isn’t exactly helping their case.

Ava laughs and then bends down to press a kiss to Sara’s cheek. “I’ve got to get back to work.”

“Aw, do you have to?” Sara pouts up at her, and Ava smiles softly.

“You know I do.”

“I have a better idea,” Sara says, tugging on Ava’s collar, “How about, you _don’t_ do that, and stay here instead, with me.”

It’s very clear that they’ve either forgotten that there are other people in the room, or they just don’t care, but Nate beams at them, and Zari knows that whatever’s about to come out of his mouth, Ava and Sara probably aren’t going to appreciate it.

“Sara and Ava, sitting in a tree, M-A-R-R-I-E-” 

Amaya punching him in the arm stops him from finishing the song, but it doesn’t do much good. 

“I – I am – we are not – ” Ava fumbles her words, voice high as she takes a step away from Sara with her face flushing red, and Zari can tell that they’re about to push the embarrassment too far. Nate sniggers, Sara glowers, and Zari winces. Ava’s expression turns down, and she scowls at them all before opening a time portal and turning to stomp through.

Taking in the situation, Zari isn’t sure if she should try and dissuade Sara from hurting Nate or tell him off herself, but settles on going to reassure Ava. Ava isn’t the type of woman to brush things like this off, and Zari doesn’t want this to distance her, not when she’s finally started to let herself get pulled into the Waverider way of life.

“ _Bad_ ,” she tells the still-laughing Nate and Ray warningly, lifting a finger to stop them from talking, and then she turns and dives for the closing portal, coming up in a roll in the middle of what must be Ava’s office. Unfortunately, she misjudges the distance a little bit – she’s going to blame the brief distorted glimpse she got through the portal – and almost smacks her face right into the edge of the desk, pulling back at the last second and instead winding up sprawled out on the floor.

Ava whirls around, mouth open like she’s ready to reprimand her, but then she stops in surprise. She was probably expecting to see Sara.

“Zari?”

“Ava, hey,” Zari stands and brushes herself off, completely unconcerned about her less than graceful entrance. “Glad I caught you!” 

“Sure,” Ava blinks and glances behind her before meeting her eyes. “I… what now? Because I swear, if you’re going to make fun of me too – ” 

“Listen,” Zari interrupts before she can gain too much momentum, “You should – you should come back to the ship with me. The guys – they didn’t mean anything by it, not the laughing either, moronic comments are actually a good thing from them!” Ava doesn’t look inclined to agree with her, and Zari forges onwards. “I can’t promise that the team will apologize, if that’s what you want, but I can certainly try to threaten them into it.” 

Ava gives her a sort of exasperated look, eyebrows raised and lips pressed together, but Zari can tell her resolve is crumbling.

“I do promise that if you come back I’ll stop getting Gideon to alter your sightline every time you call the ship,” Zari offers. “You can go back to looking directly at who you’re talking to instead of slightly to the left.” 

“I’m sorry, what’s that you’ve been doing?” 

Zari ignores her and continues, “You’re pretty much a part of the team now, whether you like it or not.” 

“I know, you’re like little leeches,” Ava grumbles, crossing her arms.

“Exactly!” Zari says cheerfully, unbothered by the unflattering comparison. They’ve been called worse. “So, that means that you won’t ghost us? You know Sara’ll miss you, and she’s so going to take it out on us.” The last part is only half a joke, and Zari is relieved when Ava rolls her eyes dramatically before agreeing. 

“Okay, alright, yeah. But… I do, actually have to get back to work,” Ava hooks her thumb over her shoulder towards her desk regretfully, and Zari sees that it does seem to be covered in more stacks of paperwork than Ava would usually allow. “Maybe in a couple hours?” 

“Okay,” Zari gives her a smile, satisfied that her work here was done, “Then I’ll see you later? How about by dinner, it’s Amaya’s turn to cook, you so won’t regret it.” 

Ava nods again, bringing up a hand to rub one of her still–flushed cheeks, and Zari bites her lip to stop herself from cracking another joke at Ava’s expense. She thinks somebody should be proud of her for pulling that off – she’ll tell Amaya about her incredible show of restraint later, Amaya will probably be proud of her. 

She turns around to leave and then stops when all that greets her is an exceptionally bland looking wall of grey, impressively boring in an office that’s actually quite spacious and well-lit. 

Spinning on her heel, she gives Ava her brightest smile and points a finger over her shoulder. “Um, so, how would you feel about maybe getting me a door back to the ship?” 

Ava rolls her eyes but brings up her arm, tapping at her time courier. “Hey, Zari,” she starts as the portal opens, and Zari looks back. “…Thank you. I’m… still getting used to the way the legends operate in day to day matters.” 

“You’ll be an expert in no time!” Zari tells her cheerfully, “That, or, you know, you’ll die trying. One or the other.” Ava furrows her brow and opens her mouth again, but Zari gives her a two-fingered salute and casually slips through the portal, returning to the galley of the Waverider. Ava is stuck with them, whether she knows it or not.

 

 

 

The next morning, still rubbing sleep from her eyes, Zari walks into the kitchen and somehow isn’t surprised at all to see Ava standing in front of the food fabricator, her brow pinched in confusion as she hesitantly tries to get it to work.

“Morning,” Zari yawns, and she’s only just able to contain her laugh at the way Ava jumps and whirls around at the greeting. “What’s up?” 

“I wanted… I was trying to get Sara some breakfast,” Ava explains, twisting her hands together before dropping them to play with the hem of what Zari recognizes as Sara’s shirt. “But it’s – it’s not working like the last time I was here.” 

“Want some help?” Zari offers, ruffling her hair one last time and stepping forward, “Gideon’s probably messing with you.” When Ava furrows her brow in confusion, Zari only shrugs, nudging her to the side so she can reach the screen. “She probably thinks it’s funny.” 

Zari goes to their preset settings and then makes the executive decision that Sara isn’t getting oatmeal today. “What were you thinking? Pancakes? Waffles? French toast?” 

They get Ava and Sara’s meals sorted, and as Ava arranges the food on a tray, Zari moves on to making her own breakfast.

“Why is that one labeled garbage?” Ava asks as Zari continues to tap away at the screen, “And… why are you pressing it?” 

Walking past the open door, Amaya stops and pokes her head inside. “Zari!” she calls out warningly, “You’d better not be making that horrible rubbish you call a meal!” 

Zari sighs and stops where her finger is hovering over the confirmation button, waiting until Amaya leaves, which she does after greeting Ava. She disappears down the corridor, footsteps fading, and Zari counts to five before reaching for the screen again.

It’s not even a second before Amaya pokes her head back into the room to give her a pointed look, and this time she waits until Zari rolls her eyes and swipes away the previous commands. “Fine! Fine, no fun food for me.” 

Amaya nods with a satisfied look on her face, and then smiles affectionately at her before disappearing around the corner. “It’s for your own good!” 

Zari makes a face at her back and then turns to the fabricator, tilting her head. She considers her options for a moment and then huffs, making herself a milkshake instead. At her side, Ava laughs, and Zari looks up in surprise, having forgotten she was there for a moment.

“Sorry about that,” she says belatedly, figuring that’s what normal people did. “Amaya’s just dramatic about breakfast.”

Ava shrugs and picks up her tray, giving Zari a smile. “Thank you for your help,” she says gratefully as she turns to leave, and Zari lifts her milkshake in her direction before catching the straw in her teeth again. Mick appears in the door just as Ava’s about to make her way out, and her step falters as she jerks backwards to avoid colliding with him. 

“Mr. Rory,” she says formally, catching her balance and readjusting her grip on the tray.

Mick grunts at her as he passes, just barely tilting his head at her. “Pantsuit.” 

Zari raises an eyebrow and sips her milkshake, leaning her back against the counter.

Maybe Ava is getting the hang of this thing after all.

 

 

 

When their latest mission goes sideways, Zari is mildly surprised that she’s the only one who winds up in the medbay. Sara stays with her long enough to make sure she’s sitting properly in the chair before sprinting out with orders to stay, intent on returning to the fight.

Zari exhales at the sudden silence, wincing as the pain starts to poke through her adrenaline. She slowly leans back in the chair, ready to take a nap as Gideon looks her over, but then comes a flash of light from the hallway. The now familiar sound of a time portal opening reaches her, and then Ava is strolling into the medbay, face pinched in an expression that looks just a little bit too much like concern.

“Are you alright? What’s going on?” she asks as she steps up to Zari’s side, quickly scanning her from head to toe before meeting her eyes. “Gideon, how badly is she hurt?” 

“ _Aside from a multitude of cuts and bruises, Ms. Tomaz has sustained a minor concussion._ ” 

“I’m – I’m fine, don’t worry,” Zari eyes the frazzled looking woman in confusion and tries to reassure her, “I just took a little bit of a beating, I already told Sara… Wait, what are you doing here?” 

Ava blows out a breath, but Zari can see that she’s still grinding her teeth together in worry. “Sara called me and told me to get my ass to the medbay to yell at you, didn’t say why.” 

Zari groans and lets her head fall back, wincing when the motion aggravates the pounding in her head. “Okay, it didn’t go that badly,” she mutters childishly, blinking to clear her eyes when they start to lose focus. She really does want that nap.

Ava arches an eyebrow, an amused smile playing on her lips. “Gideon, can you play back the beginning of the call I just got from Sara please?” 

“ _Certainly_ , _Director Sharpe_.” 

There’s a click, and then, “ _– the fan, I repeat, shit has hit the fan_ ,” Nate’s voice hisses out of the recording, and somebody in the background is yelling something about getting a young A. A. Milne off the Hindenburg. There’s some more screaming and an explosion before Sara even begins speaking, and Ava nods at the ceiling to get Gideon to cut it off.

“Yeah, sounds exactly like a mission that’s going according to plan,” Ava says dryly, giving Zari a look as she unbuttons her blazer.

Zari’s jaw works as she tries to come up with a response, and eventually she scowls and crosses her arms. “Okay, but I don’t – I don’t need a babysitter.” 

Ava shrugs, bringing a chair over and turning it around so she can sit backwards, her arms folded over the top. “Take it up with the captain. She was using her annoyed worrying voice, so I wouldn’t fight her.” 

Zari sighs again but gives in, too tired to argue, and it turns out Ava is fairly good company. She seems to know exactly how loud she can speak without worsening Zari’s headache, and she’s very good at coming up with things to talk about to keep Zari awake.

The team eventually returns, trooping into the medbay covered in dirt and grime from the muddy field they had been fighting in. But all of their hands are clean, and Zari eyes them in confusion.

“What is this?” Zari glances around at them, gathered around her and holding stuffed animals. Sara is already next to Ava, pulling her into her side, and Zari is surprised Ava is allowing the contact considering how dirty Sara’s costume is.

Ray brightens and steps forward. “Well, it’s customary to bring a gift, when somebody you care about is convalescing, especially when that somebody got hurt trying to – ” 

Nate elbows him in the side, and he stops in surprise, blinking at Nate before understanding blooms on his face as he turns back to Zari, abandoning his explanation.

“It’s Winnie the Pooh!” he says cheerfully, holding out the yellow bear in his hands. Zari furrows her brow, and he falters. “No? Did Winnie the Pooh not survive until 2042?” 

Zari shakes her head, and he looks disappointed.

“Here,” Amaya says softly, stepping forward to tuck the toy she’s holding into Zari’s arms. “His name is Eeyore.” 

“Thanks,” Zari says dubiously, cradling it with both hands, “But, like, how badly hurt do you guys think I am? I’ll be fine by tomorrow, you can all relax. This happens to us like, every week.” 

“You can’t stop us from worrying about you, Zari,” Amaya says.

Nate lifted his arms in a dramatic shrug. “Besides, it’s a gift for all of us! You know, to commemorate saving A. A. Milne.”

Zari doesn’t understand what he’s saying, but she figures it has something to do with the anachronism.

“Well,” Sara speaks up, leaning forward where she has an elbow propped up on Ava’s shoulder, “Since you’re fine, I guess I’ll just take these chocolates instead then.” 

“Chocolate?” Zari perks up, spotting the box tucked under Sara’s arm, but Sara pulls it back out of her reach.

“Nuh–uh, you don’t get this until you’re ready for bed.”

Zari sighs but obediently swings her legs off of the chair, swaying when the action causes her head to spin. She senses the team pressing forward, undoubtedly to try and help her, but Ava stops them.

“No, no, everybody freeze,” Ava stands and holds her hands out. “You’re filthy from the mission, _I’ll_ help Zari to her room while you all go fight over the shower.” 

They seem to consider her words for a moment, and then Sara unceremoniously shoves her stuffed orange – tiger? – and the box of chocolates into Ava’s arms.

“First one there gets it!” Sara yells as she immediately sprints out of the room, and the others scramble to follow her. Zari hears the sound of Amaya’s totem activating, and then Mick swearing loudly before the clambering fades, the commotion moving farther into the ship.

Laughing quietly, Zari rearranges the Eeyore under her arm, but embarrassingly enough, she actually stumbles when she tries to stand on her own. Ava catches her smoothly, eying her until she steadies herself, and then they’re moving slowly through the halls. Ava stays beside her with one hand hovering behind her back, and Zari’s unexpectedly touched at the concentrated way she’s watching her every step, probably waiting for her to trip and fall on her ass.

Thankfully, they make it to her quarters without incident, and Ava waves a hand to get the doors open.

“Pyjamas?” Ava asks once Zari is sitting on the edge of the bed, and Zari points at where they’re lying crumpled over the chair. Her pyjama pants are dotted with little polar bears, and her shirt has some cartoon character on it that Amaya loves who Zari only vaguely remembers the name of. Ava hands them over, setting her stuffed toy and the chocolates down on Zari’s desk.

“You’ve got… a lot of blankets,” Ava says slowly, looking around. The space in front of her is overridden with blankets and pillows, shoved in every possible crevice and piled high, and Zari shrugs unapologetically.

“Yeah, I may have a tiny habit of overdoing it with the fabricator. It’s just so much easier to make a new one than to go and fetch the old ones from my room when I want something comfy.” 

Soft and safe, that’s the theme of her room, and Zari likes the little hideaway she’s made of it.

“Alright, so are you good? Need anything else?” Zari shakes her head, holding her pyjamas in her lap, and Ava nods.

“Okay. Goodnight, then,” she rebuttons her blazer turns to leave, giving Zari a little wave.

“Hey, Ava,” Zari calls out, waiting until Ava turns around, “Thanks.” 

Ava looks taken aback and blinks once before giving her a slight smile and tilting her head forward. “Of course. Anytime.” 

The door slides shut behind her, leaving Zari alone. She gingerly changes into her pyjamas, and then she picks up the stuffed animal at her side, examining it carefully. “Just you and me now, buddy,” she tells Eeyore quietly, holding it up and staring at it for a moment before lowering it again. “Okay, I’m talking to a stuffed animal. Apparently I do that now.”

She waves a hand to lower the lights and crawls into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin and snuggling into her pillow. She finally lets her eyes close, turning onto her side, and if she happens to fall asleep cuddling the Eeyore, her team never needs to know.

 

 

 

Zari wakes with a gasp, the feeling of being trapped staying at the forefront of her mind and causing her heart to continue beating out of control. Her chest is tight, it feels like her stomach is in her throat, and Zari chokes on air as she tries to regain control.

Her room comes into focus, her nightmare fading away, and Zari breathes in and out raggedly, willing her pulse to calm itself.

Sitting up, she hastily pushes her hair away from her face and then threads her fingers through it, holding tight and trying to ground herself with the pressure. Pressing her face into her knees, she only just realizes that a wind has been picking up around her, throwing her things into a mini cyclone from where she’s accidentally activated her totem.

Exhaling sharply, she puts her hand on her totem and focuses on deactivating it. She hears the miscellaneous objects caught up in the whirlwind start to hit the ground, but can’t find it in herself to care right now. Her room, usually so comfortable and snug, is far too small, boxing her in. 

She stumbles to her feet and practically falls through the door, grateful for Gideon opening it and lighting up the hall without prompting. Her breath comes a little easier out here, but she starts to make her way through the ship, instinctively moving towards the bridge.

It’s dark when she gets there, as is the captain’s office, and Zari gasps when she hears Sara’s voice.

“Couldn’t sleep?” 

Recognizing her, Zari exhales roughly and slowly takes her hand away from her totem, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment in an attempt to calm down again. A lamp flickers on to reveal Sara sitting curled up in an armchair, exhaustion pulling down her shoulders, and she gives Zari an apologetic look. She’s holding a drink balanced on her raised knee with one hand, and her other hand is resting flat against her chest.

She has a haunted slant to her eyes, and Zari knows what this kind of insomnia looks like. Sara’s definitely got enough trauma in her past to warrant it.

“Are you okay?” she asks carefully, and she’s honestly expecting Sara to brush her off with a wry comment and halfhearted smile.

Instead, Sara takes a deep breath and examines her glass. “I, uh… Bad dreams. Couldn’t sleep.” 

Zari blinks at the surprise confession, not expecting the candor.

“Nightmare party, right on,” she nods, stepping inside and raising the lights to a comfortably dim setting, enough to ward off the shadows and give the room a warm glow. Sara looks on in confusion as she shoves the desk backwards to make more room on the floor, and Zari brushes off her hands when she’s done.

“Be right back,” she tells Sara, and then she bustles off to her room. She goes to grab as many blankets and pillows as she can hold, moving quickly to get in and out, and then she hurries through the hallway, trying to keep track of the trailing edges of the blankets as she makes her way back to the bridge.

“I’m not really in the mood for a movie night right now, Z,” Sara says quietly, voice tired. She’s still sitting in the chair, but she uncurls herself and sets her now empty glass down on the table.

Zari shakes her head and dumps everything in her arms onto the floor, crouching to rearrange the pile into something less haphazard. “Not a movie night, a video game night,” she beckons her over, waiting for Sara to get to her feet. “Which one do you want to play?” she asks, wiggling the boxes invitingly in her direction.

Sara shuffles over and slowly sits down next to Zari, movements unsure, but she points at one of the games. It’s a cartoon fighting one, and Zari nods approvingly, handing her a controller. They both get comfortable, wriggling around in the blankets, and Zari kicks her feet out with a satisfied sigh.

She can tell that Sara is still tense, always on guard, always protective, and she hopes the game will distract her, at least for a little bit. As if to prove her point, Sara takes a deep breath and tilts her head back to look at the ceiling. “Gideon? Can…” she trails off, but Gideon seems to know what she means.

“ _Of course, Captain Lance. Every member of the team save for you and Ms. Tomaz is asleep in their quarters. Neural scans show that they are all resting peacefully_.” 

“Okay. Thanks, Gideon,” Sara exhales, bringing up a hand to rub at her eyes tiredly.

Zari sways to knock their shoulders together, flashing Sara a smile. “Ready to get your ass kicked?”

Sara scoffs. “You wish.”

They play several rounds until Sara sets her controller down, and Zari pauses the game to see her eyes drooping. “You keep going,” Sara murmurs sleepily, “I’ll just watch.”

Zari nods, switching to single player mode and glancing at Sara out of the corner of her eye. True to her word, Sara slouches down against the pillows, face turned towards the screen, and Zari sees the way her eyes are slowly starting to close.

She finally drifts off, curled up in the blankets and looking smaller than Zari has ever seen her. Zari plays a few more rounds, waiting for her eyes to grow heavy in the way that tells her she’ll finally be able to fall asleep again, but she knows she won’t get there for a while.

She can feel Sara pressed against her side, burrowed in the nest of blankets, and she can also feel the ever–present hum of the Waverider, soothing in its consistency. Beyond that, she knows her friends are safe here, and so is she, and she’s never taken that for granted. Everything is steady, and quiet, and come morning they’ll be having breakfast and it will be anything but, and Zari smiles. 

It feels like home.


End file.
